The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-06-08
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Notes on the Lesson for juno
12-"The Command
ments."

From Chicago Standard BY Rev. j. NJ. Coon
ihe lesson for the above date will be found
In the first eleven verses OF the twentieth
chapter Of Exodus. Time, 149l b c.. soon
after last lesson. Place, Mount Sinai. In the
southern part of the peninsula OF Arabia
SPECIAL MENTION.
Hount Sinai There Is still difference OF
opinion In locating this mountain The old
theory was that Jebel Musa, @the mountain
OF Moses. was the peak; but it was soon seen
that this was mistake. Later, and by al
most general consent Ras Sufsafeh, three
miles 10 the north was accepted For ex-
ample, Palmer says Of this: No one who
examines II with special reference TO the
Bible account OF the proclamation of the law
can fail to be struck with Its entire accordance
with the details OF the narrative The plain
derives its name, Rahah, from its level char
acter There are fully 400 acree of the plain
proper, exactly facing the mount, and slop-
clination as would best enable large number
or people TO see at once. The area
OF 40 acres would accommodate with ease
about two millions OF spectators, at the am
pie allowance OF square yard each; and be-
sides this there is considerable further open
space, extending northwestward from the
watershed or crest or the plain, but still IN
sight OF the mount-the very spot 1t may he,
to which the trembling Israelites removed
and stood afar of, when they feared 10 come
nigh unto the cloud and the thick darkness"
But 1t IL questionable If this is actually the
place. SThe conditions Of the mountain are
that ~ 1t must be easy of approach; ~ it
must have a plain sufficiently large for
ton of Israel: (3) the r.se from the
PLAIN must be abrupt and valleys must in
tervene between IT and the neighboring
mountains; (D there must have been plentl-
full supply of water and pasturage;" (5) there
must have been sufficient room to allow an
encampment OF many months The Difficult
ties IN the case of this site are thus indicated
by Rev. 5. +. Hancock There appears,
therefore, strong probability that the total
population OF the wilderness camp was con-
siderably more than three millions. For our
present calculation We will place il at that
number. For the accommodation OF this host
then, we are assigned thirty million square
feet, that is, ten square feet to each person
This would be space five feet in length and
two feet in width, on the average, for each; 80
that at night the whole available ground
would be actually carpeted with living human
bodies, so closely packed that no one could
move without encroaching on his neghbor."
After referring to the additional room
required for the flock and herds, and
for the wagons, baggage, and tents, he
adds: "In short, it Is evident the space afforded
would scarcely be sufficient to CON
tain the crowded persons, animals and ma
terlal OF the camp, even without allowing
room Tor free movement; and that by no pos
slble system OF compression could the en-
campment have been forced into the space
before the mountain now nominated the
genuine Sinai" Rejecting Ras Sufsateh as
the true Mount Sinai, he concludes by sug-
costing another locality: There IL, however,
mountain about eight or ten miles eastward
OF this, which geographically meets the re-
quirements of the case 1t is called Jebel um
Aicwee (Mother OF Heights) and is men
tened as possibly the true Sinai by Rev. L.
W. Holland fellow of the Royal Geographical
Society. (See Smiths Bible dictionary, Amer
lean edition, article Sinai, page 3O5i) The
road 10 II is the same as to Ras Sufssfeh up to
the last five or six miles. 1t rises almost pre-
cipitously from the plain beneath, literally
mount that might be touched while the
plain, Els Senned, contains about thirty miles
OF good camping ground
he Ten Commandments. They are called
in Hebrew words" not commandments.
The division Is uncertlin. The Jews combine
one and two AS number two, and make what
we call the preface number one. The Luther
ans and Catholics also JON one and two, but
make out the ten by dividing the tenth. 1t ls
probable that only the opening sentences were
engraven on the tables of stone, and hence
may be accounted for the variations between
the version of Exodus and that of Deuteron-
omy The tables probably contained each
five commandments the first relating to final
the second to fraternal duties. Augustine
thought they were divided into three and
seven. The common division Is into four
and six, the former including duties TO God,
the latter the duties 10 man Are the COM
mandmepts To be interpreted according TO
the letter or according TO the splrty Do they
forbid only that which is expressly mentioned,
or are they to be taken as general statementsy
Christ, 1t Is claimed contrasted his teaching
with that OF these commandments Is tins
the case, or was II not rather wItn the Phar-
isaical Interpretation of them, so common III
his day? (harper.) Nothing grander than
the ten commandments has ever been uttered
III this world They lie at the foundation of
all religion and morality, of all prosperity
and happiness, individual and national, tenn
poral and eternal, and of all spiritual life.
The circumstances and manner of their proc
lamation, and the care that was taken to make
the record of them lasting were worthy of
them, and indicate that they were intended to
be, because they are universal and eternal !"
(lodd)
False ,corship. % Nature-worship, or the
worship of the forces or objects of nature,
such as stars, trees, meteorc stones, etc, with
which the lsraelites were familiar; 81 ami
mal-worshp; C0 image worship, which was
very common among the Israelites and the
surrounding nations; ~ spirit-worship, Q. +,
the worship of angels or demons or the dead
(Cf Col q Is; Lev IL: 2; Ps. l66: 2S; Gl
worship of imaginary beings, "the spirit of
nature, the everything of pantheism, the moth
ing of atheism, or the creatures Of imagina-
tion which men form for themselves under
the promptngs OF their own fancses, wishes
and desires but which are not the God Of the
DAbtO ohu Az W. n,
or the worship Of money, pleasure, honor,
business, friends or family; % self-worship
iHarper.)
The Sabbath ddy-its importance and spirit
That the commandment establishing it was
placed among those which, all acknowledge
are Of universal obligation, that it was en-
craven with them on tables Of stone, and
ordered to be preserved in the ark of the
testimony Of Gods covenant with His people,
indicates that IT was intended to be universal
and perpetual in its authority The expert
ence of the world testifes to the necessity of
the Sabbath. Nations have tried TO abolish il
and have been obliged to restore it States
ment looking at the subject from q purely
political and economical point Of view, have
pronounced strongly in its favor. Few will
deny that IL would be next to impossible to
spread or preserve Christianity or any re-
ligion without the opportunity afforded by the
Sabbath.
The fourth commandment does not cay
which six days are TO be spent I'm labor, or
| point out which the seventh is 10 merely de-
FLARES that every seventh day shall be Sab
bath. 1t merely aims to secure the consecra-
| zion of the seventh part of the time. To sup
pose that it is important which day is OBJ
| served, is to interpret the commandment with
. strictness which is not applied to any other
| Of the commandments, and with regard to
the letter which killeth, rather than the spirit
al Ia ON